Out of Time: A Prequel
by 1000001nights
Summary: This story follows Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra, and Strax as they are brought to 2012 London to aid the Doctor in hunting down what appears to be a rogue silurian. While they marvel at the wonders of the modern world, they also struggle with the resurgence of Vastra's past, something she tried to put behind her… Can they catch this rogue silurian, or is modern London Out of Time?
1. Chapter 1

This story is a prequel to an upcoming story about Jenny, Vastra and Strax as they travel the galaxy in search of a lost band of silurians. In this tale, the Paternoster Gang are brought to 2012 to deal with what appears to be a rogue silurian… These were released as short, one-page chapters on tumblr at .com, and have been compiled here.

Enjoy!

-

Jenny Flint was not expecting visitors. When she heard a knock on the door (hurrying into her maid's outfit to keep her cover), she certainly did not expect the visitor she received.  
"Hello!" he cried marvellously, a boyish smile on his youthful face - a fez tilted jauntily on the top of his coif of hair. "Sorry I'm late," he mused, absent-mindedly pushing past Jenny and into the foyer. "Is the mistress of the house at home?"  
"Um…" Jenny said, unsure what to do with the Doctor. They had only met a few times, and it had always been utter madness. He twiddled his fingers idly as he waited for her response. "I'll just fetch her," she said, and scurried up the stairs.

"The Doctor?" Vastra asked as Jenny arrived, adding the final touches to her outfit. Jenny was surprised to find her dressed; she had been decidedly undressed a moment ago. "I wasn't expecting a house call. Whatever does he want?"  
"He didn't say, miss," Jenny replied. "He's just… there."  
"Well we shall soon find out, won't we?" Vastra said with a sly smile. "Change out of that thing. We may be needed, and playtime is over." She winked as she threw her veil over her face, and left the room. Jenny changed as she was told, and descended soon after.

What she found was once again not what she expected.

Strax was in full armour in the foyer, a gun in his hand and two on his belt. Vastra was similarly garbed for battle, with two swords at her waist, and Jenny's in her hand, ready for her. "So we are going, then?" Jenny asked, slipping into her heels. "Where to?"

"The future," Vastra said grandly. Jenny felt her stomach turn.

"Some might say the present," the Doctor giggled. "I would. Or would I? I certainly have spent a lot of time there."

"Here," Vastra said, handing Jenny her sword.

"Won't we be… conspicuous, ma'am?" she asked.

"One can only hope we find the future a more tolerant place." She turned to the Doctor. "We serve at your pleasure."

"Alright!" he declared, grandly thrusting his finger in the air. "Just no saluting! Understood?"

They all three nodded, and followed him out to his strange blue box. _This will be the adventure of a lifetime_ , Jenny found herself thinking.

Jenny Flint stepped out of the TARDISand onto the streets of London, but they were not the streets she knew. The road was cobbled, yes, but the buildings were taller, the air thicker and hotter, the sky greyer. St. Paul's loomed overhead, but above it, great winged shadows coursed through the sky. Roaring carriages growled up and down the street in an endless stream. This was the future, the world the Doctor lived in.

"Twenty-twelve," the Doctor announced proudly. "Has a nice ring to it."

"This world smells choked by the fires of war. I like it," Strax growled.

"I assume you have brought us here for some purpose?" Vastra asked matter-of-factly. She, like Jenny, was hardly fazed by the onslaught of modernity. Vastra's own people were more advanced even than this future Earth, and together the two women had travelled to more distant destinations and to planets with more unfathomable wonders. Somehow, though, this future was even stranger.

It was the feeling of nearness and distance that made Jenny so queasy. This was London, this had been her home since she was a child. Behind her stood Paternoster Row, but everything was just different enough that she knew it was not entirely her own anymore. Foreign,and familiar. _Uncanny_. The worst, most unshakeable feeling of discomfort. Jenny reached for Vastra's hand, then reflexively drew away. Her heart skipped when Vastra reached out and clutched Jenny's hand once more. Vastra looked back at her lover. There was nothing but reassurance in her cool grey eyes.

"You still have that perception filter?" the Doctor asked. "I know you took it, you naughty minx. No unauthorized use of such a device is permitted but… Well… I know a guy. Well. Not a guy. More a… Fish." Vastra and Jenny only stared. "Well? Do you have it?"

"Of course," Vastra shrugged.

"Good," the Doctor said. "You'll need it. There's much to do." He skipped into the crowd. Hand-in-hand, Jenny and Vastra followed, Strax trundling along behind them. The Doctor powered on the perception filter and tucked it into his jacket pocket, casting a ring of blurred perception around them. Together, they disappeared into the crowd.

"First things first," the Doctor declared, grandly parting the crowds down Oxford street, "clothes! You can get away with walking around like that for a while. There's this thing in the future called 'cosplay,' - he pronounced it like it was a word from another language - "but that will just raise too many questions. Questions you don't want to have to answer! So first things first: we get you some modern clothes."

"I absolutely adore your enthusiasm, Doctor," Vastra said with a wink at Jenny, "but is that really the first thing we ought to do?"

"Oh, well there are a whole set of things we _ought_ to do," he said with a childish smile. "But it's most fun! So we'll start with that."

"What about Strax?" Jenny asked. They were protected from prying eyes so long as they were within range of the perception filter (Jenny shuddered to think what people saw when they looked at Strax), but she worried what the result of taking a violent Sontaran into a women's clothing shop might be.

"Strax can come with me," the Doctor said, patting Strax on his armoured shoulder. "We'll find him a nice bow tie."

"I share neither your primitive need to emblazon myself with extravagant garments, nor a desire to garb myself in frilly human fabrics," Strax grumbled.

"You also don't have a neck," Jenny smirked. Vastra stifled a giggle behind her gloved hand. "Here," the Doctor said, holding out a brown paper bag. Jenny took it, and saw - and felt! - that it was full of money, modern paper notes with pictures of a regal old woman on them. "That's probably enough," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"We'll be just fine, Doctor," Vastra said. To everyone outside the ring of the perception filter, she looked human. Jenny wanted to see, but her eyes lingered on her last glimpse of her love in all her green glory. Once they parted from the Doctor, Vastra would activate her own personal perception filter, and to everyone, Jenny included, she would appear human. "Where shall we meet?" Vastra asked.

"I will pick you up in style in two hours. Will that be enough?"

"Better make it three," Vastra said with a wink at Jenny. "Just to be sure."

"Right," the Doctor replied. "To the tailor!"

"No bowties!" Strax snarled. Jenny and Vastra giggled as they watched them disappear into the crowd. Vastra clicked her perception filter on, and transformed before Jenny's eyes. Tall, regal, fair of skin and dark of hair; a stranger, except for her cool grey eyes, and her thin, sly smile. "Where to first, ma'am?" Jenny asked.

"First things first," Vastra said, a mischievous gleam in her eye, "we need to get out of these bloomers. You're going to like 21st century underwear." She led Jenny by the hand a little further down the street towards a shop with a gaudy pink sign. "And so am I," she winked, and held the door open for Jenny.

"People really wear this stuff?" Jenny asked, scandalized at her own half-naked form in the mirror. She couldn't see Vastra, who was standing just outside the fitting room and had not been permitted to enter (what did they think was going to happen?), but she knew the silurian was smirking. Jenny had thought half-naked, when in truth it was more like 80%. She was used to bloomers that hung nearly to her knees, and apart from occasional sparring matches and lovemaking (both of which often ended in the same way…), she rarely had her belly so uncovered. It felt shameless, it felt… Wrong! And yet…

"Don't get caught up in what you think people might say," Vastra said through the door. "How's the colour?"

"I love it," Jenny said. Pale green. The fabric was actually comfortable on her skin, even the bra (though she felt it would become uncomfortable after a while). Above all, however, she wanted Vastra to see her like this. She had a half dozen other pairs with her, ready to try on, and a few little sets and other, more titillating items, some she had chosen while others were more Vastra's taste. She wanted them all. The future was _sexy_.

"Hurry up, love, we haven't got all day," Vastra said. Jenny made sure each piece was all the same size, and trusted they'd fit as well as the pair she had on. She collected them all, got dressed in her Victorian clothes - which now seemed tortuously restricting - and left the fitting room. "Well?" Vastra asked, a playful smile threatening to break across her face. She looked human; Jenny had forgotten. "Success?"

"Oh, I think so," Jenny said. Vastra smiled properly.

"Good," she said. "My turn. Come on. Let's make sure that girl isn't anywhere in sight. I don't know when I'll get the chance to show these off, so let's make the most of it."

Giggling, they hurried about the store, and made their way back to the fitting rooms. When they were sure no one was looking, Vasta slid the door open and Jenny slipped inside. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

"What do you think?" Vastra said with a wink. "Help me get this corset off."

 _Maybe that poor shop girl_ did _have a point_ , Jenny thought to herself, as she unlaced Vastra's dress. The silurian's skin was pale and smooth underneath; the perception filter even modified Jenny's sense of touch. Jenny bit her lip at the feel of it.

Then a knock on the door broke the moment entirely.

"'Scuse me," the sales girl outside drawled. "One to a room, love. That's the rules!"

"Oh just a moment," Vastra snarled. "I needed help with my dress."

"A moment's not long enough," Jenny breathed.

"I know," Vasta replied, baring her breasts before turning away. "Rain check?"

"You're mean," Jenny said, and slid the latch on the door. She slipped out as Vastra bit her lip. They were pink. Jenny knew her heart wouldn't stop racing until they were good and alone...

After the excitement of the lingerie shop, shopping for normal clothes felt decidedly less exciting. It was improved, however, by the breathless anticipation both Jenny and Vastra held at the opportunity to be alone in this new world, this future.

Vastra was in a playful mood. She pinched and squeezed Jenny's bottom whenever she got the chance, and pecked her on the cheek and gently on the lips whenever they found themselves in a lonely corner of some shop. They tried once or twice to hide themselves in another fitting room, but no matter where they went, the salespeople were diligent, and they had little patience for the two women's ongoing shenanigans. Besides that, however, nobody seemed to pay them any mind. No snide looks when Jenny pressed herself to Vastra as they walked hand in hand. No second glances when Vastra bent down to give Jenny a kiss. Nothing. Jenny had expected things to be better, but that their love was so commonplace that it elicited no response at all was unthinkable before that day.

And she loved it.

They found themselves buying what felt like nearly all of three separate shops, as well as a handful of pairs of shoes - comfortable, flat, slip-on things that Jenny bought in two colours, as well as lace-up boots with a thick, broad, masculine heel.

Jenny filled her bags with skirts in various materials and in various lengths. The idea of an independent skirt was not entirely foreign, but it had certainly not been commonplace in her day-to-day life back in the London she knew. These shirts tucked nicely at her waist, and hung just below the curve of her bottom, in a way that made her breathless and afraid and confident all at once. And trousers! There were so many, and most of the women they saw were wearing them. And they were tight. Some Jenny didn't think counted as trousers at all. Besides the cozy black fabric that hugged to the shapely hips, thighs and behinds of many of the better-looking girls they came across, there was little left to the imagination. Jenny had to try them on herself, and when she did, bought no less than three pairs, in a variety of gaudy, bright, colourful styles.

And that was just the _first_ shop.

"Do you know," Vastra said, as they walked arm in arm, bags weighing them down on either side, "that it is sometimes considered distastefully _girly_ to shop so extravagantly in this time period?"

"Why would that be, miss?" Jenny said, nuzzling against the soft cotton of a jumper Vastra had bought herself. Her skirts were longer than Jenny's, her trousers a little looser, her tops fuller and offering more coverage (Jenny couldn't believe all the bare skin on display!), but it was still a dramatic change.

"I couldn't tell you, my dear," Vastra said. "But I have a feeling anyone not willing to feel a little girly now and then is missing out."

"Well that's a given," Jenny said, smiling like a child, like a fool. A fool in love. "Do you think we 'ave all we need?"

"For now," Vastra said. "The Doctor hasn't told us how long we'll be, but I suspect it will be up to us, in a way. Are you in any rush to return home? I would completely understand if you were…"

"I wouldn't say a rush…" Jenny sighed.

"I thought not," Vastra smiled. "Shall we find somewhere to sit? It's almost time for the Doctor to meet us."

"Let's," Jenny said. She hugged herself closer to Vastra as they walked on, just two lovers in the crowd.

The afternoon had dragged on almost to evening, and Jenny Flint and Madame Vastra sat across from each other in a Caffè Nero, a chain coffee shop that Vastra had suggested. Jenny had never had coffee in her life before, and according to Vastra, the coffee at Nero was done in an Italian style. The thought of it was obviously more excitingly exotic to Jenny than to any of the other coffee shop patrons; thin girls in threadbare tank tops with piercings in strange places, and tall, gaunt men with beards. Lots of beards…

Jenny's first sip of coffee had been a shock. It was thick, black, and tasted almost smoky; Jenny choked when she first tasted it. She resolved to stick with it, though, mainly because watching Vastra calmly sip from her mug made Jenny attracted to the sophisticated look it gave her. "Is the Doctor on his way?" Jenny asked, nervously trying another tentative sip.

"Don't worry," Vastra said, "he never fails to be on time."

True to Vastra's word, the Doctor appeared moments later. He was dressed the same as he always was, in a brown tweed coat and a loose, faintly-striped shirt, but Strax, on the other hand, had taken on a new look entirely.

And he did not seem happy about it.

Part of the peculiar effect was due to the Doctor's own perception filter, which changed Strax into a short, lanky man with balding hair and odd, wide-set eyes. He had that same, comical gap in his teeth, but they appeared to be more normal sized in comparison to the rest of his head. The rest of him, however, Jenny expected was the Doctor's doing, and it seemed like Strax was going to burst at any moment because of it. He'd been dressed, in actual clothes, not unlike those he wore in his guise as the butler of 13 Paternoster Row. They did not seem to fit his short, thin, awkward form, and appeared to balloon out of him, as they were clearly overtop of his bulky sontaran battle armour.

"Good afternoon, was it, Strax?" Vastra asked, glib.

"I think you have a very good idea that it was not, Madame Vastra. If you'll pardon my saying so." He stood up as tall as he could, but it only added to the comical figure he struck. "Soon, I hope I shall be able to bathe in the blood of my enemies, and remove these frivolous rags in glorious conquest." The Doctor grimaced comically. "I don't think so, Strax. Not much for blood, myself," he said. Jenny and Vastra giggled.

"So what are we doing here, Doctor?" Vastra asked. "In this time, I mean."

"Excellent question!" the Doctor replied. "If you'll just follow me, I believe I can show you."

"Can't you give us, I don't know… a hint?" Jenny asked.

"Why else would I bring in my resident silurian experts?" the Doctor asked. "This time has a problem. A _big_ problem, it seems. My agents in the city report that we've got another one on the loose. He's wild, lost, mad, and out of time… And he's not very happy about it."

"Another what?" Jenny asked.

"Another silurian," the Doctor said dramatically. "That's why I need your help."

Jenny saw Vastra's eyes widen, and she held back a gasp. "What are we waiting for?" Strax grumbled, and the Doctor led them outside. Energized by this news, they followed him out of the coffee shop, and back into his big, blue box.

The game was on.


	2. Chapter 2

I apologize for the formatting, some of it is not working properly. I'll try to differentiate the chapters, but for the most part they're going to kind of blend together. Not my usual! But it'll suffice.

-

The Doctor took them to what was obviously a crime scene. The way it was cordoned off looked different than what Jenny was used to, and the tools were decidedly more advanced, but there was an atmosphere to it that Jenny recognized at once. It was a crime scene through and through, and not a usual one at that. Perhaps that's what made it so familiar. Vastra seemed right at home.

Before leaving the coffee shop, the Doctor had said _silurian_ … The scene did have a touch of Vastra's own macabre sense of justice to it, and the aura of strangeness didn't stop there. People in uniforms milled about, taking photos and collecting evidence. Vastra slipped among them, treading carefully amongst the carnage. Someone had died, and recently...

"Doctor?" one of the uniformed women said. "How did you get back so fast?"

"Time travel," the Doctor grinned. "Is it all still here?"

"We barely just got finished talking!" the woman said. "Who are these people?" She nodded dismissively at Jenny, Vastra and Strax, who to her eyes must have looked like nothing more than a trio of civilians off the street. Ordinary, if a little odd. The Doctor shook his head.

"Experts," he said. "They're here to help. Well… Take over, really. Madame Vastra!" He gestured grandly at Vastra, but started as he saw her, evidently having forgotten that she appeared human. "This might be more effective if you lose the perception filter, for now."

"Of course," Vastra said, with one of her polite smiles. She deactivated the device, and her silurian form returned, still dressed in the modern jumper and trousers she'd purchased. The uniformed woman gasped, and her compatriots all stopped what they were doing to nervously look on.

"No, don't worry," the Doctor exclaimed, "she's perfectly harmless. Well, mostly harmless. To you, anyway. No harming these dear people, Vastra!"

"Noted," Vastra said, a little frustration bubbling beneath her smile.

"And these fine pair are Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra's closest companion, and Strax, the… er… muscle, I suppose."

"I am a highly-trained warrior of the glorious sontaran empire, and I - "

"That's quite enough Strax," Vastra said, stepping forward. "Shall we have a look?"

"Be my guest," the uniformed woman said. "UNIT has enough trouble on our hands. We don't need more. If the Doctor vouches for you, that's good enough for me."

"Marm…" one of the others said, still obviously nervous to be around Vastra. "Shouldn't we take this up with command?"

"No need," the woman said, nodding at the Doctor. "He's the highest command we're ever gonna get. If he says they can handle it, they can handle it. Is there anything you need from us? Vastra, was it?"

"No, thank you," Vastra said, "I'll be quite alright."

"Alright folks," the woman said, "we're moving out. Good day, Doctor."

"Good day, Ophelia," the Doctor said, with a smile. The members of UNIT filed out in a surprisingly organized fashion, and in a moment, they were left in silence, alone. "Well I think that went rather well," the Doctor added, once the others were gone.

"Yes," Vastra said, musing over the evidence. "We'll take it from here."

"Excellent!" The Doctor said. "Let me know when you're ready to go. There's something else I ought to show you."

"More surprises?" Jenny asked.

"Don't worry," the Doctor said. "You're gonna love this one."

To Jenny Flint's surprise, she stepped out of the TARDIS at 13 Paternoster Row. Only… It wasn't 13 Paternoster Row, not really. The square at the end of the street had been built up, and tall, mostly-glass buildings rose across from where the door had been, its little silver bell gone completely. In its place, all along the street, offices of dull, brown brick had sprouted up. She felt as though she ought to cry, but instead she just felt numb. Nothing lasts forever.

"Why are we 'ere?" she asked.

"Well, this is 13 Paternoster Row," the Doctor said. "Don't recognize it?"

"I assume you have something else to show us, Doctor," Vastra said.

"I do," he replied. "Come closer. Here, take these. One each, please." He handed them each a round little pin, which he instructed them to keep on their person at all times. The pin had a small gem in the centre, which glowed with an electric light; Jenny tried to tuck it into the pocket of her new trousers, but found that they didn't truly exist. This troubled her more than it should have…

"And these are?" Vastra asked.

"Part of a complex, neuro-teleporational system, which transcends time and space, so try not to get them wet," the Doctor replied, fiddling with something in his hands. When it wouldn't respond how he wanted, he took out his sonic screwdriver, and pointed it fixedly at the device. The three pins glowed, and the device in the Doctor's hands glowed, and the wall before them changed.

Gone were the drab bricks, the flat, boring windows. Gone was… well, everything! and slowly, in its place, the facade of 13 Paternoster Row began to materialize, just as it had been before they'd left for the future. Jenny's eyes went wide, and her heart fluttered with something that felt like relief.  
"How?" she asked.

"Temporal-Displacement Disruptor," the Doctor said. "Very illegal in most civilized worlds. However, in 2012 Earth, they don't know it exists yet. So technically…"

"Very clever, Doctor," Vastra said. "The entire house?"

"It cannot be!" Stray declared. "Such a temporal displacement would take massive amounts of sustained energy! There is no way even you could generate the required..!"

"Ah, but I'm not the one generating it, Strax," the Doctor said triumphantly. "Anyway, what's important is that it's here for you when you need it. Only someone with one of those pins on their person can see or interact with the house, and the TDD only works on inanimate objects, so you don't need to worry about being carried off into a different time period. At least, not by this…"

"And no one can find us here? How clever," Vastra mused.

"Is it really here? All of it?" Jenny asked.

"Yes," the Doctor replied. "Clever. I suppose you don't need the tour."

"We'll handle things from here, Doctor. Thank you." Vastra swelled with a happy sigh.

"There is… one more thing," the Doctor said carefully. "It would be very rude of me to drop you off in an unfamiliar time with no assistance. I'd love to stay, but I have other things that need doing, so… I've arranged for some help. I'm told she's the best UNIT has. I hope she won't be a bother."

"We shall see," Vastra replied. "Where is she?"

"She's meeting you here later. She's the one who operates this," he held up the TDD controller. "See here? Four slots, for those pins. She has the fourth. I wouldn't presume to give her a key to your home, but she can see it an access it through the TDD if she needs to. Thought it might help."

"Very kind, Doctor," Vastra replied. "I think we have all we need. Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?"

"No, actually," the Doctor replied. "There's a certain wedding I need to be at, and I've a mind to make a rather grand entrance. If you don't mind, ladies. Strax."

With a flourish, the Doctor was gone, disappearing into his TARDIS, and the TARDIS disappearing into thin air. Jenny, Vastra and Strax turned to face the door of 13 Paternoster Row. They were home, and away. Jenny couldn't believe it.

"Shall we?" Vastra asked, holding out her arm. Jenny took it, and they ascended the invisible stairs up to the door, and stepped inside.

A knock on the door turned all three heads inside 13 Paternoster Row. Jenny, out of instinct, went to answer the door, but Vastra strode past her in a hurry, and opened the door herself. Her perception filter was turned off; there was no need for it inside the house. Jenny felt bad for the poor girl they were meant to liaison with, but she supposed it was best she knew the truth right from the start. Jenny expected a startled gasp as Vastra threw the door open, but the silurian was met with a different reaction.

"Oh, that is _so_ cool!"

Jenny froze in her tracks, and waited. Strax trundled up behind her, still in full body armour, and they waited together, unsure what to do. A few moments later, Vastra led the young woman into the living room, closing the front door behind them. The girl was just that: a girl. She couldn't have been older than Jenny, but that didn't necessarily say anything about her competence. Still, she looked green, and untested, and Jenny had to wonder what either UNIT or the Doctor saw in her. Regardless, she decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, as she stood uncertainly before them, like a child who had underprepared for a presentation to her class.

She had a round, kind face, with glasses that covered nearly half of it, sitting on the end of her nose. She wore a smart, slightly overlarge shirt, buttoned to her neck and fastened with - Jenny could hardly believe it - a bow tie. "Hello," the girl said uncertainly. "I'm er… Osgood."

"Osgood has just finished telling me that she has been assigned to look over this location, and keep an eye on us. We are permitted to continue the investigation, and are trusted with exploring this city, but we are not to overstep our bounds. We are guests in this time, and we may think of Osgood as our host," Vastra said, looking to Osgood when she was finished. "Have I about got it?"

"Yes," Osgood said, looking up at Vastra with unrestrained awe before turning her eyes to the room, then down to the ground. "I mean, it's pretty basic. Nothing special."

"Alright," Jenny said, standing. "I think we can handle that. Would you like to stay for a cuppa, Osgood?"

She took one look at Vastra, and turned away, as if that was her answer. "You don't 'ave to worry, love. Miss doesn't mind if you look. If she did, she would've used the perception filter."

"You have a perception filter?" Osgood blurted out, suddenly whirling around excitedly. Jenny and Vastra shared a smile, and Jenny nodded. "Brilliant," Osgood sighed.

"Stay for some tea," Vastra replied. "We can talk."

"Feel free to ask any questions," Jenny said, taking Vastra's hand and nestling into her shoulder. Osgood's eyes widened, and Jenny and Vastra giggled quietly.  
"Come," Vastra said, "I'll put the kettle on. Have you ever had tea from the 19th century?"

In response, Osgood simply wheezed, but it sounded… excited. In a nervous flash, she whipped a small contraption out of her pocket and pressed it between her lips, squeezing down on the nozzle. She breathed in deeply and slowly, then released the object and returned her attention to Jenny and Vastra. "I would love a cup," she replied, and followed them into the kitchen.

Madame Vastra examined the crime scene again once everything had been settled at 13 Paternoster Row. There was no doubt in her keen mind that there had been a murder committed on the spot, and she had no reason not to believe the original deduction. She didn't want to, but all thoughts pointed to it. A silurian. One of her own. She didn't want to believe it. Vastra had been an only child of a lost race for so long, it felt that she belonged to solitude more than she belonged to her vanished brethren. She'd been fooled once before, by a con she should have seen through, so she was prepared for this to be another falsehood, another empty, hopeless lie. But as she looked, and examined further, matching the clawmarks with her own, tasting the blood in the dirt - human, with something else - she had to face the truth.

She denied it as long as she could, until she came upon the first piece of absolutely damning evidence. A scale. A genuine, silurian scale. A little lighter than her own, more yellow than emerald, but still the same. It was chipped, likely from some trauma from when it had been broken off. She was at first amazed that the UNIT investigators had not found it, then she recalled how incompetent the apes could be, even in that strange present. As she searched, she found more, clustered below the dirt, and stained with blood. Whatever the silurian had killed, it had fought back, and the silurian was hurt. He had all but disappeared, but he'd left a first clue. Vastra could follow the trail of blood, even if only by smell. It would get her somewhere, if not to the silurian himself.

Now she had a lead. Now she could begin the process of ending this. She didn't want to be in that future for long if it meant living in the constant shadow of another of her kind. She would finish it, and then they would decide what to do. They could return, she was sure. The Doctor would see to that. But did they want to?

It didn't matter, not then. Not in that dark place, haunted by recent death. The smell of dead skin and stale blood was thick in the air. Vastra had wanted to see the scene herself first, to come to her own conclusions and resolve them in her mind, but she knew she could not pursue this killer alone. She stood to her fullest, and adjusted her modern clothes. She'd had to wear the cloaking veil of the perception filter to reach the crime scene. She hated the image of herself in windows as she passed by. Human. Ugly. She tried not to look at her hands as she examined the silurian scale one last time. Fleshy, pale, delicate and fragile. So human, and yet…

She took one last look at the scene before returning to 13 Paternoster Row. There was nothing else for her to do. They had work to begin.

Jenny Flint let Vastra in after hearing her curt knock on the door. She was in one of her moods, halfway between madness and fury, her mind electric with deductions and possibilities. Jenny had learned how to calm her out of her moods with sweet words and the gentle touch of her hands, or how to work them out of her with harsh truths and tough-love lovemaking. Neither option seemed appropriate just then, however. The rules had changed. The future was different, and it brought new challenges with it. Vastra swept into the kitchen and quickly doffed the veil of her perception filter. She looked ready to tear all her modern clothes off in a fury. Something had agitated her greatly, and Jenny worried on what that would mean for their time in that strange, modern world.  
"What is it, love?" Jenny asked softly. "Did you see the crime scene? Did you find out what it was?"

"Silurian," Vastra responded, spitting frosty froth. "Absolutely no question. I examined the crime scene myself. I found this." She tossed a small, sealed bag on the table.

Jenny examined it quickly; a clutch of bloody scales were sealed inside. Vastra huffed, and began to stalk about the room. Strax entered then, which was strange; for all his warlike bluster, he had a great fear of Vastra in a thunder. "Silurian scales," he said matter-of-factly. "No question."

"Yes I know," Vastra barked, "which means I am not alone anymore, and I do not know how to feel. Am I or am I not the last of my kind? Where are my brothers and sisters hidden? Should I seek them out? And if so, why do I want nothing more than to destroy this interloper and return to our own time!"

"Everybody wants things to stay simple," Jenny said, taking a sure step towards her love. "It's natural to want things to go back to normal. But we 'ave to face this. The Doctor wouldn't have brought us 'ere for nothing."

"The Doctor," Vastra spat. "That beast knows how it feels to be the last of something. Why would he bring us here when he has a hundred other favours to call. A thousand! I don't know. All the stars would come to his aid, or so he would have us believe. So why us?"

"For glorious battle!" Strax said, raising a fat, two-fingered fist.

"No," Jenny said calmly, putting her arm through Vastra's, hoping to still her racing heart. "But I think you might be overthinking it, love."

"That is rarely the case," Vastra said, and abruptly stormed off. Jenny let her go. There was no sense chasing her until she'd cooled down, however much she wanted to. She looked at Strax, but neither seemed to know what to say. Maybe there was nothing to say. Jenny crossed to the table, and examined the scales.

They did look like Vastra's, and if that meant there was another, as the Doctor and UNIT had said… It must have been hard, but Jenny didn't know what to say.

"My lady," Strax said suddenly. Jenny was surprised to hear from him, as if she'd forgotten he was there. They locked eyes, and for the first time, his brutal face looked soft. "My people have no need of love. It is a weakness shared by frailer species that hinders their judgement and weakens their tactical logic in the face of battle. But…" he seemed to consider harder than he ever had before. "With you and the madame," he continued, "it seems to have the opposite effect. Whatever the Doctor's reasoning, he did not bring all three of us to this time so Madame Vastra could bear the burden alone. I will do what I can. But, if I may sir, she will need you to support her."

Jenny was shocked. She'd never heard such an admission from Strax, and certainly never expected to. "Thank you Strax," she said. "That's very decent of you to say."

"Nonsense," Strax said. "It is tactical." Jenny smiled, and finished cleaning the kitchen. She left the scales where they were. Vastra would still need a minute alone, but after, Strax was right. She would need Jenny.

Vastra was in her room. Jenny expected to find her pacing angrily, clawing at the drapes or her four-poster bed. Instead, she sat crumpled at the edge of the bed, her head in her hands, claws tight on her green, leathery scalp. She was not crying, though Jenny could have been forgiven for thinking as much.

Normally perceptive, Vastra didn't move when she heard Jenny enter. Jenny stepped gingerly along the old, creaking floor and sat beside her love. They were both dressed in modern clothes, Vastra as part of her outdoor disguise, Jenny because she'd grown to like the effortless comfort and slim aesthetic. Together in that old room, they looked like strangers, visitors in a mausoleum of time. It hardly felt like the bed they'd shared countless times before.

"Love?" Jenny asked, putting her hand to Vastra's back, soft in a jersey jumper. "Don't feel like you 'ave to tell me everything. But lean on me. I want to help."

"I know," Vastra breathed. She rarely got this emotional, and when she did, it was brief and furious. This was new. It was scary. "You're nervous about the other silurian?" Jenny asked, fairly certain of the answer. Vastra nodded, head still in her hands. "You don't 'ave to be," Jenny said.

"Am I or am I not silurian?" Vastra asked, raising her face. Against her green skin, her bloodshot eyes looked bright and furious. "It doesn't matter," Jenny said, a bit too quickly. "Not to me."

"But to the rest of the world," Vastra said, bolting to her feet, "or to me? Who am I if not the last of my sisters? What am I if not a final survivor of my race?"

"You are Vastra," Jenny said. "And I love you. And that's what you are. And more, beyond. You are a detective, and a bloody good one at that. And a hero, ma'am. To many. Including me. And he'd never admit it, but also to Strax."

"Empty words," Vastra hissed. "Of course I know those things. But what do they amount to if not the sum of who I am? Which is a silurian out of time. An outcast, always. And now there is this other…"

"Who is he to you, love? No one. Not like this. If what makes you silurian is all of what I've said, then he's not that…"

"But it doesn't, does it?" Vastra whirled around. "It makes me… Almost human. But I never will be. That infernal device down there…" she snarled like a beast, like a creature, the muscles in her neck rising. "It is as close as I shall ever be. It is a false as I am. This other… My twin, as lost as me. Yet he does what he must, what the apes expect of him. I have never wanted to be one of your people, but I have never felt so weak at being so far from them. Alone, on my own, I can define who I am. But among my kin, what am I..?" Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed.

"It's just one other, miss, and - "

"What am I?!" Vastra screeched, and fell back against the wall. Jenny would not have blamed her for crying. She would have welcomed it, for if it ever felt warranted - _needed_ even - it was then. But Vastra didn't. She wouldn't. She couldn't. Too proud. Too obsessed with being strong, that each break, each tiny falter, would spread and grow. They would never defeat her, her foundations would never crumble to such tiny cracks, but to her, each imperfection, each tiny failure of morality or fortitude, was a breach as wide as a chasm. Jenny almost cried herself, but she had to be strong too. She would patch what cracks she could, but she would erase those from Vastra's mind that she herself couldn't see. Only Vastra saw them, but to Jenny, those tiny flaws were hardly flaws at all. Everyone made mistakes. Everyone had doubts. Vastra was ten times stronger than most. Those tiny flaws meant nothing against the magnitude of her character, of who she really was. At least in Jenny's eyes.

Jenny got to her feet. She crossed to Vastra, and slowly, with the gentleness of a mother, she wrapped the woman in her arms. Her hands slid around the silurian's waist, and she held tight. "It'll be alright, love," Jenny said. Vastra collapsed then, but Jenny didn't falter. She held them both up. Strax was right. She had to share the weight, balance the load. Slowly, Vastra raised her arms, and linked them behind Jenny's back. "I love you, Vastra," Jenny whispered. "No matter what." Vastra didn't cry. She wouldn't shed a tear. But when she sighed, and stood a little, the weight of her empty tears lifted slightly. They would solve this, together.


	3. Chapter 3

Osgood was sitting in the kitchen when Jenny came downstairs the next morning; she was thankful that she'd decided to put on a robe. "Strax let me in," Osgood said, a little nervously. "I hope that's okay."

"No, of course, that's alright," Jenny yawned. "Is something the matter? It's early…"

"No," Osgood replied. "I just thought we could… Well, get started. On the investigation. The silurian, you remember."

"Yes, I remember," Jenny said slowly. She made her way to the counter opposite the small breakfast table Osgood was sitting at, and began to sleepily fiddle with the kettle. "Tea?"

"Yes please," Osgood said. Jenny noticed a mug already in front of her, but she pushed it away, and looked over her shoulder. "Strax offered me some of… this. I'm not sure what it is." Jenny took one look at it, and turned her nose up at once.

"Yes, probably a good idea not to drink that," Jenny said. "Sontaran protein supplement. It's mostly some kind of alien testosterone." Jenny squinched up her nose in mock disgust. "I thought it smelled… musky," Osgood replied.

"I'll make us some nice earl grey," Jenny said, "and you can tell me what's goin' on."

"Will the um… Mistress of the house be joining us?"

"Probably not," Jenny replied. "She's… Indisposed. At the moment."

"I see," Osgood said nervously.

"Milk and sugar?" Jenny said with a pleasant smile.

"Yes please."

Osgood explained the situation as she knew it, Jenny filling in what she'd learned from Vastra's tale of her own investigation. UNIT had been keeping a perimeter around the location of what they called 'the incident,' and so far, no breach had been reported, meaning the silurian was still hiding somewhere within a fairly small radius. That gave them somewhere to start searching. More encouraging was that, whoever the rogue silurian was, it had not yet attacked anyone else. That gave both Jenny and Osgood pause as they sipped their tea, sitting across from one another.

"Why did he attack those people in the first place?" Jenny asked.

"We don't know," Osgood said, "and without actually er… meetinghim, I don't think we'll ever really know."

"Could he have been attacked? It might 'ave been self-defence," Jenny suggested.

"Maybe," Osgood replied, sipping her tea and finding it still too hot. "It was a… pretty big mess. If it was self-defence, why not just run away? Hit to… to wound. Not…" She shuddered.

"It is strange," Jenny agreed. "But we'll get to the bottom of it. Leave us the location of the UNIT perimeter, and we'll begin our search."

"Okay," Osgood said. "Thanks for the tea. I really should be going."

"Of course," Jenny said, smiling. "Come by anytime. It's nice to have someone to talk to who's, y'know… not Strax."

"Oh is he always like that?" Osgood asked. "I thought he was in a bad mood or something."

"No, that's just Strax," Jenny said. She led Osgood to the door, and bid her farewell.

It was time to get to work.

 **It** was a brisk day (which was odd given the season), so Jenny, Vastra and Strax were each bundled in jumpers and long trousers, each of them hidden behind the veil of their perception filters.

Well, except for Jenny.

She led them, a spring in her step as they walked through the crowds, as normal and as workaday as any of the other people passing them by. A few people even bumped into Vastra, and once into Strax, and no one seemed to mind - or care, which bothered Jenny some. They were just three faces in the crowd, and Jenny couldn't have been happier.

"Perhaps you shouldn't be acting quite so perky when we're investigating," Vastra suggested as they reached Piccadilly Square. It was lit up from every angle with screens Jenny expected from spaceships and starports of the distant future, but not of that present Earth. She was dazzled.

"We always 'ave fun, don't we?" she said. "What's wrong with showin' it a little?"

"In deference to the deceased, for one," Vastra muttered. "Do you think we could hurry it along? I do not enjoy being in this… form."

"Are you sure?" Jenny said, linking her arm in Vastra's and looking up at the constantly-changing screens. "I think you look lovely."

"Well of course you do," Vastra said. "Imagine yourself green and scaled, however, and I should think…"

"If it made you 'appy, miss, I'd grow a tail. Wouldn't that be fun," Jenny smiled, enjoying the glib, coquettish mood the future had given her.

"You're impossible," Vastra huffed. She was frustrated, but her mood had broken. The skies were clearing. Jenny hugged her closer, and allowed them to press on. There'd been a report by one of the perimeter officers.

"You're Vastra?" the officer asked when they arrived, really pronouncing the first A.

"Is that a problem?" Vastra asked.

"Nah," the man said. "Just… expected somethin' diff'rent, that's all."

"Well here I am," Vastra said. "Would you like to tell me what you know?"

"Yeah, alright," the man said. "We got a hit last night around 11:30 or so. Wasn't much, and I don't think it was a breach. T'be honest, I think 'e knows we've got 'im trapped. I think 'e's in there, waitin' for 'is chance to get out."

"What makes you say that?" Jenny asked.

"Just a hunch," he said. "I been dealin' with these damn aliens for years. Always somethin'. And in all that time, I never even met the Doctor. 'ow is that fair?"  
"You've suffered greatly for your cause," Vastra condescended. "Do you have any kind of video from the scene? How did you detect his presence near your marker?"

"Got a biosensor, don't we? At least half a dozen in this block. Don't know who pays the bills for these things, but we got 'em tuned to silurian DNA. Don't know where we got that either…"

Vastra scowled, and Jenny put her hand on her back, just above her waist. She needed to keep her head clear. "Do you or do you not have anything to show us?" Vastra asked.

"Sure," the man said. "Ever seen a silurian weapon before? Didn't think they needed 'em. I heard the descriptions, all teeth and claws and whatnot. But if it ain't the most advanced thing I ever seen. And I was around when all them cars went crazy. Do you remember that? Doctor was 'ere then, too. Still didn't meet 'im."

"Yes I remember," Strax said, a hint of bloodlust in his voice. Jenny tried to brush by that, too. "Show us the weapon," she said.

"Over 'ere, marm," he said. "It's a real doozy."

"None of the victims showed any kind of weapon wounds," Vastra said as they walked to the man's small office. "How can we be sure it belongs to the silurian?"  
"Simple maths, marm," the man said, opening a locker and removing the gleaming silver weapon. It looked like it was a gun, though only somewhat. He handed it to Vastra, and she slotted her fingers into the holster, the gun wrapping around her whole hand. A light powered on, and the gun whirred to life. "Well…" the man said, "that's never happened before."

"Why?" Vastra asked, though Jenny was sure she knew why.

"Biometrics, marm," he said. "It's coded. Only silurians can use it. So… Not sure what to say marm."

Vastra sighed, rolled her eyes, and powered down her perception filter. The man barely moved, as if he'd gone blind. It took a moment for Jenny to realize he'd been petrified, frozen and anxious in his amazement. Vastra, now as green as ever, sighed.

"Well, my good sir," Vastra said, examining the weapon, "now at least you can say you've had some excitement."

 **The** weapon wasn't much of a clue, but it was somewhere to start. In part, it only told them what they already knew: that the culprit was silurian. This was unhelpful, and Jenny, Vastra, and even Strax knew it.

On the other hand, however, it told them something more. It told them that the silurian was more than a renegade, out of time. It told them that he was equipped, or was somehow equipping himself. Vastra surmised that he could not have been awoken with such a device; that ruled out his origins being the same as hers. So, that left a few possibilities. Vastra liked one in particular.

"He's a time traveller," she said, when they'd returned to 13 Paternoster. "It must be."

"Why? Miss, it makes no sense. Why would he - "

"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable - "

"Yes, yes, we know," Jenny said. "But 'ave we?"

"Not entirely," Vastra admitted, "but we do know enough to make that leap. Was he awoken with that weapon? No. Does it exist in this time, and he is therefore equipping himself? No. Did he arrive here via spacecraft - which my people neither currently have use of, nor would utilize it given the ape's ability to track their movements, even cloaked - no! Therefore…"

"I understand all that," Jenny said, exasperated. "It's still a pretty big leap…"

"The mistress's logic is sound," Strax said. "While not the only option, time travel does seem the most likely."

"Thank you Strax," Vastra said, smiling smugly. "Shall we agree, then?"

"I suppose," Jenny sighed. "But if he is a time traveller, why is he still here? Why not leave?"

"Simple. He's stuck. Trapped," Vastra said.

"Then 'e's … What? Looking for rescue?"

"Perhaps," Vastra said. "Or perhaps he has other plans."

"How does this all relate to the murder?" Jenny asked. "He's still killed people."

"Yes, but without his weapon, which he must have had on hand. Or likely did, anyway, given what we know. So why? Why kill with his claws?"

"Maybe 'e was threatened," Jenny suggested. "He felt… I dunno, scared? It's happened before, miss."

"Or…" Vastra said, beginning to pace. "Or perhaps something else…"

"What are you thinking, miss?" Jenny asked.

"It's a hunch, another leap. But bear with me."

"I'm with you, love," Jenny said. "What is it?"

"He is not acting of his own accord," Vastra said, spinning around triumphantly. "He's working for someone else!"

 **Jenny** Flint was holding a tub of popcorn. She had no idea what it was, but the smell was making her head light. Vastra got a pair of drinks for them, and Strax carried a small pack of some kind of sugary sweets, not unlike Turkish Delight. They each held a ticket, which they presented to a sullen teenage girl behind a podium and a roped-off barrier.

"Are you sure we 'ave time for this, love?" Jenny asked as they sidled into the cinema, awkwardly stepping over people's feet.

"UNIT will be more than capable of containing our rogue silurian for now," Vastra said, ignoring the odd looks her neighbours were giving her. "Besides, we must wait until he acts to properly pursue him. Otherwise, we'll just be wasting time, instead of spending it more… Liberally."

"So this is… what, exactly?" Jenny whispered to Vastra.

"I, too, am curious," Strax said, much too loudly for the aura of quiet in the auditorium.

"This is a cinema," Vastra said privately, "and from what I understand, we are going to watch a film. Moving pictures. You saw something similar at Demon's Run, I'm sure."

"Not like this," Jenny said. "This is… People really do this? All the time?"

"When a live show isn't available, I assume." Vastra settled into her seat. "Nothing beats the theatre."

"And what are these?" Jenny asked, holding up a flimsy plastic pair of spectacles.

"Evidently the film will attempt to replicate the sensation of three-dimensional space," Strax said proudly.

"And what about - " Jenny began. Vastra lifted the tub of popcorn to her face.

"Have some popcorn, dear," Vastra said. Jenny took a handful and gingerly placed a piece in her mouth. It snapped, and tasted like warm butter on… with… Jenny had never tasted anything quite like it before. It was glorious.

"What's this one about, then?" Jenny asked, munching away.

"I haven't the faintest idea," Vastra replied, "however, evidently something or someone shall be 'avenged.' Sounds promising."

"Whatever it is, I am for it," Strax said excitedly. "What do you suppose it will be?"

Before either woman could answer, the lights went down, and the screen came to life in dazzling colour. An image prompted them to put on their glasses, and the show began.

Most of it was a blur. Jenny came out with barely any memory of what she'd seen, but she was exhilarated nonetheless. She'd never experienced anything quite like it, at least not for fun. She liked the villain, and found his portrayal sympathetic. She was especially fond of the woman with red hair.

"Do you suppose we could find an outfit like that one?" she asked, as she walked arm-in-arm with Vastra through London's chinatown, all aglow with neon lights.

"Now there's an idea," Vastra purred. "How she fought in it is anybody's guess."

"I'd like to find out," Jenny said, pressing closer to Vastra.

"I liked the green one," Strax said. Jenny and Vastra chuckled, and pressed on into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Jenny Flint quietly followed as Vastra led them deeper into the underground. Strax brought up the rear, his heavy plasma rifle in both hands, while Vastra was armed with the silurian pistol they'd taken from the UNIT lock-up. Jenny just had her swords. They crept through the darkness, ready for a fight.

They'd been searching for hours, following the trail of the supposed silurian. It had been a young UNIT recruit that tipped them off this time, giving them their first real leas. Their security net had detected an attempted breach of the containment zone, but the breach had failed, forcing the culprit back into the zone and giving the Paternoster trio their first chance to give chase. Jenny was beginning to worry that they were too late, however. They'd been searching for over an hour, and had found nothing that even amounted to a clue. The underground was winding, dank, dark and difficult to follow, and though they'd started on the main tube pathways, they were now deep inside the disused tunnels and service lines that criss-crossed the already convoluted system. Jenny didn't want to give up on Vastra or their chase, but she was beginning to think that their best course of action was to return to the surface at their next best opportunity. She kept her worries to herself, and followed on after Vastra.

They kept on, silently, until a noise that could only have been someone moving drew their attention up ahead. "There," Vastra hissed. She bolted like a snake, and took off at an incredible speed, forcing Jenny to sprint to keep up, and leaving Strax behind them in their dust. A scream followed soon after, but as Vastra had rounded a bend in the tunnel, Jenny couldn't see what it had come from. She caught up a moment later, and saw what had happened.

A young woman, not much older than Jenny, lay on the wet ground at Vastra's feet. Vastra had the silurian weapon aimed at her, and the girl was whimpering pathetically. She looked terrible, like she was used to suffering, and Jenny felt bad for her at once. "Talk," Vastra spat.

"I know you can't fire that weapon," the girl said. Her accent wasn't English, but Jenny couldn't place it. "How did you get my master's firearm?"

"Your master?" Vastra asked. Her acidic tone was gone, and her curiosity took over. "A silurian is your master, is he?"

"He saved me," the girl said. "He protects me. I'm safe with him."

"I'm sure you think so," Vastra asked. "But he's killed already, and I believe he will kill again. I must know where he is. If you know, I ask you to tell me."  
"You might put that gun away," the girl said. Jenny realized that, in the subterranean gloom, the girl couldn't see Vastra clearly. There was no need for the perception filter underground, but the girl took Vastra for human. Why shouldn't she? Vastra realized it too, and lowered the gun, kneeling beside the girl, close to her face. Jenny could hardly see her, but she saw the girl's eyes grow whiter as Vastra came into view. "Your master and I are not so different, it would seem," Vastra said. "Now will you tell me where he is?"

"No," the girl replied, her lower lip tight.

"Then we'll need to find somewhere else to continue talking. Strax!" The sontaran had just caught up to them, and was huffing terribly. He looked at Vastra with dutiful but pleading eyes. He knew what was coming. So did Jenny. "Carry this girl," Vastra said. "Don't let her get away. We're going back to number 13."  
"Miss!" Jenny protested. "Is that wise?"

"I want answers," Vastra said. "And I'm not about to wait around down here. She knows something, and I'm going to find out what."

Vastra stalked off back down the tunnel. She never let go of her grip on the silurian pistol until they were back in the daylight. Something was very wrong.

They were back at 13 Paternoster Row quicker than Jenny expected. As soon as they were through the door, Vastra ripped off her perception filter and stalked up the stairs, tearing away the human clothes she wore as part of her disguise. Strax stood numbly in the foyer, holding the captured girl like a babe, and muttering to himself in a dialect Jenny didn't understand.

"Just put her down, Strax," Jenny said. "She's not going to run." Jenny was reasonably sure of this, but she fixed the girl with a threatening look, just to make herself clear. Strax lowered the girl onto the couch in the drawing room, and she lay there as if she'd been petrified. "Relax," Jenny said. "You're safe with us."

Jenny took off her coat and shoes, and shouted up to Vastra from the base of the stairs. "Miss! I'm going to call Osgood. She needs to know about this. Alright?"  
No response. Jenny tried again, but still she heard nothing. She eyed the girl from the stairs, her little form huddled up on the sofa, hugging her knees and rocking manically. "Oh for goodness sake," Jenny said to herself. She went to the kitchen and pressed the button on the console that operated their out-of-time keys to the house. That would be enough to signal Osgood. She'd be by soon.

Jenny then returned to the drawing room. There was a certain sympathy she could feel for the girl as she watched her there, apparently oblivious to Jenny standing in the door. She herself had sat on that couch before, her mood not unlike the girl's. First, she had to stop calling her that. "What's your name, then?" Jenny asked.

"Valentine," the girl said. Jenny wasn't sure she believed that, but she let it go. "What were you doing down in the underground, Valentine?"  
"Waiting for my master return. He'll be worried about me. He won't be happy you took me."

"Why?" Jenny asked. "Is he an angry man?"

"He's not a man," Valentine said. She shot Jenny a hateful look from beneath her matted fringe.

"I understand," Jenny said. "Is he like Vastra?"

"He is more than she will ever be. He is better than her," Valentine said. "He won't be happy. He'll come for me."

"Does that scare you?"

"No," Valentine said. "It should scare you."

"We don't scare easy in 'ere," Jenny said. "Do you like your master? Does he treat you well?"

"He saved me," the girl replied simply. She wasn't much younger than Jenny. The look of her; scraggly dark hair, face slightly gaunt, dark brows and scowling, untrustworthy eyes… It was like looking through a mirror in time. "You know," Jenny said, sitting on the opposite end of the couch, "the mistress of this 'ouse saved me, too. She protected me, and she didn't care what I was like, deep down. In fact, she liked it. She saved me in more ways than one. It takes more to save someone than just getting them out of danger. You have to make them feel, well, safe."

"I was safe," Valentine said. "With my master."

"Will you tell me who he is?" Jenny asked. "Will you tell me why he hurt those people?" Valentine's face was in her hands, and Jenny heard her sniffle gently.  
"He didn't want to," she whimpered. "He shouldn't have to." It was then that Jenny noticed the tattoo on Valentine's arm, the mark on her wrist. "Valentine…" she said, "what's that on your arm?"

Valentine pulled both arms out of view, and glared at Jenny with red, puffy eyes. "You don't know," she said. "You don't understand."

"Jenny!"

Suddenly, Vastra appeared in the doorway, dressed again in one of her Victorian gowns. "Leave that poor thing alone," she said. Jenny hurried to her feet and scurried from the room, following Vastra. She seemed concerned, but as soon as they were out of sight, her mood shifted, and she became calculating once more. "Did she say anything?" Vastra asked.

"Not really," Jenny replied. "But she's scared. We need to help her."

"Oh, and we shall," Vastra said. "Did she mention the silurian?"

"She says he'll come for her. Do you think he'll be able to follow us?"

"I don't know," Vastra said, baring her teeth, and widening her slitted eyes. "Bur I hope he does…"

They looked back into the room, where Valentine was looking out the shuttered windows. Watching. Waiting…

Jenny shivered. Something was coming. She could feel it.

Osgood arrived about an hour later, and Jenny invited her in. She was surprised that they had so brazenly taken a captive without UNIT's consent, but she did not begrudge them that decision, as it meant more answers for them and for UNIT. "Our security net hasn't detected anything," Osgood said. "So wherever he is, he's contained."

"You'll never find him," Valentine muttered from the corner. "Unless he wants you to."

"Has she been like that this whole time..?" Osgood asked. Jenny and Vastra nodded in unison, after sharing a quick look of frustration first. "She hasn't told you anything? Wasn't she his prisoner?"

"It appears not," Vastra said, pacing up and down the kitchen. "She seems to believe he rescued her in some fashion, and won't speak out of loyalty to him. All we know is that the silurian is male, and that he may not have wanted to kill his victims. Though that hardly absolves him of any guilt."

"No, you're right," Osgood said. "I was excited. I thought she'd be a lead. But it sounds like another dead end."

"Trust me, we were excited too. But she did say one thing that has us optimistic," Jenny said.

"She seems to expect the silurian will come for her," Vastra added. "Track her, somehow. From experience, I can think of a number of ways. It's possible that we are now in the midst of the silurian's trap." Osgood shivered. "Do you think he will come..?" she asked.

"I certainly hope so," Vastra said. "I have some questions for him. Many questions, and I expect they will not all have adequate answers."

"Sounds like a big undertaking. Should I be here? You know, for safety reasons?" Osgood fiddled with her inhaler, but decided against it.

"Well 'e 'asn't attacked yet," Jenny said. "We'd just like you to administer a tracer to Valentine. In case she does get away."

"Right. Good idea," Osgood said. "Anything else?"

"Not unless you'd like a cup of tea," Vastra said. Osgood shook her head, and pressed her glasses further up her nose. "Then we'll begin preparations at once. Jenny, meet me upstairs when you're done. And see Osgood out, would you?"

"Yes marm," Jenny said, and led Osgood into the drawing room.

Valentine hadn't moved since she'd been put down. Jenny had expected her to run when no one was looking, but evidently she really did expect her master to arrive and save her, or else she'd utterly resigned herself to her fate.

She put up little fuss when Osgood administered the tracer, a UNIT invention that would track a subject for up to a week. Unlike a wristlet or other confining cuff, UNIT used a simple paste, which dried clear, and could not be washed off, but was neither toxic nor harmful. Though Valentine did not resist, she had grown more feral, and just a look from her would send Osgood shivering away for a moment, only to resume the process a minute later, and a bit more cautiously. When they were done, Jenny saw Osgood to the door.

"Where did she come from, I wonder," Osgood said, careful to keep her voice down.

"Don't know," Jenny replied. "But it wasn't anyplace good."

"No," Osgood agreed. "Well, let us know what happens. First sign of trouble, we'll have agents here ASAP."

"Of course. Thank you for all your help, Osgood."

"Oh my pleasure, really. To be involved in all this… Everybody knows you travelled with the Doctor. What a thrill."

Osgood smiled and left, waving to Jenny at the bottom of the steps. Jenny closed the door and made sure it was locked, giving one last look to Valentine. She called Strax down, and ordered him to watch over her. Then, she made her way upstairs to Vastra's bedroom. It wouldn't do to keep the mistress waiting…

Vastra was already half-undressed by the time Jenny got to the room. Her green breasts were bare, and the slip she wore was slung so low on her thick waist it might not have been there at all. Jenny's heart skipped a beat, then began to race as it seemed to rise into her throat, her cheeks flushing. Surprisingly, however, she managed to keep her cool.

"Miss… Marm…" Jenny stammered, and struggled to catch her breath. "Love," she said at last, "don't you think we ought to…"

"I need to get my mind off of everything," Vastra said, taking Jenny in her arms. Her body was warm against Jenny's jumper. Almost too warm. Warm enough to want to tear all her own clothes off… "Everything but you," Vastra moaned into Jenny's ear. Her knees almost gave, but she held on.

"Miss… I understand. But the girl. The silurian. Can we..?"

"We can do whatever we like," Vastra said.

"Should we?" Jenny asked. Her heart was racing. She could hear the blood pulsing in her ears. Her face was flushed and hot. She hadn't been with Vastra in days…

"I don't care," Vastra said. She kissed Jenny suddenly. Her lips pressed against Jenny's, her teeth biting Jenny's lower lip, her long tongue snaking into Jenny's mouth. Jenny gasped. But her body was tense. Her lips weren't yielding like they were used to. Vastra sensed this, and kissed down Jenny's neck as her hands pulled her jumper up, and played at the small of her back. Jenny breathe in sharply, and the word caught in her throat.

Wait…

Jenny managed to call her arms back under her control, and pressed them against Vastra's. The silurian's biceps were tight and hard as she groped for Jenny's bottom, but Jenny managed to push just out of reach. A half-finished kiss died on Vastra's lips, and she gasped for a moment as she tried to reason out what was going on. When the heat died out of her, her nakedness seemed crude, and she covered up shyly. "I apologize," she said. "I was ahead of myself, and…" She could manage nothing more, and sat dejectedly on the bed.

"It's not you, love. I promise," Jenny said. She wanted to sit next to Vastra, but she couldn't. It didn't feel right, not yet. She wanted to cover herself up, too. Vastra's affections were aggressive. Jenny loved that about her. But today, as they rarely had before, they did not manage to rouse anything in Jenny. "I just can't," she said. "I'm too… on edge, miss. Aren't you?"

"Mm," Vastra grunted. Her eyes were fixed on the floor.

"Talk to me, love," Jenny said. "Tell me what's wrong."

Vastra sighed. Something heavy weighed her down, and Jenny sat beside her at the foot of the bed, hoping to share the load. "Vastra?" Jenny said, trailing a finger from the silurian's temple to her chin.

"All of this has changed… everything," Vastra said. "The whole way I look at the world. This future. This case. The blasted Doctor. I was at peace with being the last of my kind I would ever see. Maybe the last one alive. But now this? And that girl…" Vastra looked at Jenny, and her eyes were misty with the coming tears. "If she doesn't just remind me of you, in our first days."

Jenny nearly burst into tears then and there. "Oh miss," she said. "I thought that too. But look 'ow far we've come."

"How much farther can we go?" Vastra sighed. "Carrying on like this. Pretending. This future isn't real, not to us. We don't belong here. We don't belong anywhere."

"We have each other," Jenny said. She lifted Vastra's strong arm and put it around her shoulder. Vastra embraced her, encircling her in her protective arms. "I belong here," Jenny said.

Vastra let out a heavy sigh, and together they fell back onto the sheets. Jenny giggled, and Vastra's tears all but disappeared in a smile. "When this is all over," Vastra said, "when we've got this… thing we're chasing caught, we're coming back here, and we're not leaving for a week."

"What will we do?" Jenny asked with a wink.

"I have an idea or two," Vastra said. She kissed Jenny, and this time her lips parted willingly. "Thank you," Vastra said. "I'm not fixed. But I'm better."

"Yes you are, love. We will make it thro-"

A crash echoed from below, and both women sat upright in bed. Strax bellowed a battle cry, and Valentine screamed like a child. "Clothes!" Jenny gasped, and Vastra leapt up and began to dress hurriedly. Jenny grabbed the swords Vastra kept on her mantle, and rushed out the door, certain her love would be following soon behind her. It was time to face the rogue silurian at last. He was finally out of time!

Jenny Flint vaulted the last three steps, and had her sword drawn by the time her bare feet hit the floor. Strax was on his back and struggling to rise, like a turtle upended on its shell. His gun lay out of arm's reach, smoking from recent use. "Strax!" Jenny cried. She hefted him to his feet, and slipped into her shoes. "What happened?" It was clear the girl was gone.

"A coward!" Strax bellowed. "Came at me without my seeing. Shattered the window as a diversion. Only a coward attacks without his adversary's knowledge. A sontaran would never - !"

"Strax, which way did they go?" Jenny shouted, wringing his little form in her arms.

Vastra was with them before Strax could point. She was dressed for battle, but her perception filter was nowhere to be found. Vastra sensed Jenny's worry at once. "There's no time," Vastra hissed. "Which way?"

"East, madame," Strax said, and picked up his gun. He fired the expended clip out the bottom, and reloaded it with one from his belt. "With haste!"

"Then let's go catch a killer," Vastra snarled. She had her own swords, two sheathed, a third drawn. "And give this London something to talk about!"

They rushed out the door, all three of them in line, and took off after the silurian. Vastra could smell him, sense him even, and it boiled her blood to be so close. She sprinted like a raptor, like a beast on a hunt, and Jenny tried just to keep her in view. "This way!" she would snarl, and curve around a corner like a bird in flight. Strax was lost, but he would catch up. As Jenny rounded another tight bend, she saw Vastra, to her surprise, standing still. Legs wide, sword drawn, her back tight and hard and tense.

"They went into the sewers," Vastra said. "Underground."

"Do we follow?"

"We must. He thinks he's beaten me," Vastra chuckled to herself. "That underground is older than some of these streets. If I'm at home anywhere, it's there. Fitting, really. Where's Strax?"

"He's coming."

"Well leave a note or something. I'm going down." Vastra sheathed her sword, and leapt gracefully down through the manhole, deep into London's winding underground passages. Jenny followed, more carefully, and caught Strax's eye as he rounded the bend, followed by a chorus of unseen screams. Jenny leapt down, and the world went dark.

Vastra was not far ahead. Jenny could just make her out in the dim light. "Quietly," Vastra hissed. "They've stopped running."

"He's close?" Jenny asked.

"I can taste him on the air," Vastra said. She drew her sword slowly, and it slipped from its scabbard like a lace through a corset's eye. Vastra held it at the ready, curved towards her body, a defensive stance, but a quick slash away from death. Jenny came close behind Vastra. She pressed her body to her's, and felt the mutual heat they shared. Jenny bit her lip, and they leaned their heads together for a kiss.  
It filled Jenny. It expanded inside her, and she felt herself grow larger, stronger, fuller. They were more, together.

"Let's get 'im," she said. Vastra smiled triumphantly.

Then Strax fell in through the manhole. "I am unhurt!" he cried. Something skittered ahead of them, and Jenny and Vastra turned. "With me," Vastra said, and they moved forward quickly and silently.

It didn't take them long to find the silurian. He'd stopped, and with a flare lit behind him, casting him in a silhouetted shadow, he'd waited. He was unarmed, and Valentine was behind him. Jenny recognized where they were at once. The scene of the first murder.

"So you've found me," the silurian said. His voice was guttural, and he struggled with the language, but he spoke it truly, without any help from translation technology. "What will you now do?"

"We are here to ensure you answer for your crimes in this time and against this world," Vastra said. She brandished her sword threateningly. The silurian took a step back, but it was soon obvious he was not afraid of the sword. Something else had caused him to stagger…

"A lost sister," he said. "Can it be true? Another of my kind."

"All that we have in common is we are strangers in a strange time," Vastra said. "I do not care that we share blood. My people are gone."

"You should care," the silurian said. "You should."

"I care about the law," Vastra said. "Or at least my own word."

"Who are you?" Jenny shouted. The silurian began to pace, his shadow dancing, skewed, on the curved wall beside him.

"I am a creature out of time," he said. "This much you seem to know. But I am not here because I chose to be. I am here because I had no other choice."

"Speak quickly," Vastra said, "before I lose my patience for this story."

"I am charged with crimes of an empire I do not recognize," he said. "I am a convict, on the run."

"This is supposed to make us want to 'elp you?" Jenny asked. "Sounds loony to me, marm."

"What empire?" Vastra asked.

"A shadow empire," he said. "A secret cabal. They control more than you know. Even this world falls under their domain, even if they choose to ignore it."

"And what was your crime?" Vastra asked.

"Existence," he said. Vastra and Jenny shared a quizzical look as Strax caught up to them. "Existence?"

"Your people, our people…" he said. "They yet live. But they will not for long. My mistake was fleeing to a world that would not aid me. But now I have found the help I need."

"Those people," Jenny cried. "You killed those people!"

"They were chasin' us!" Valentine cried. "My master kept me safe. They wanted to take us back there. I won't go!"

The silurian turned to comfort her. Jenny turned to Vastra.

"An escaped convict, miss? I can't believe that."

"It is a tall tale," Vastra agreed. "And yet…"

"What?"

"I have heard of such a place. That does not mean it is true. But…"

"It exists," Strax said. "It is forbidden for any sontaran to venture near it. That region of space is barred from all transport."

"Why?"

"Because…" Strax said "no one who goes there ever returns."

"Except him," Vastra said.

"I speak the truth," the silurian said. "And I would ask you, at least… Let me go. If you would not help me, do me at least that kindness."

"And what help would you ask of us?" Vastra said. "If I am to help, I must know what you require."

"You are considering it?" he asked.

"I am intrigued," Vastra said.

"Miss?"

"Tell me what you need," Vastra said.

"Come with me," he replied, "and I'll show you."


End file.
